Overpaid at work advise

puxie123

My previous horrible work place really have got it in for me, it took them weeks to send my p45 after constantly chasing them and on Friday I was expecting 5 days pay and 6 days holiday that they owed me and nothing, I spent most of friday on the phone to them and nothing, got a letter from them yesterday dated the 14th saying since April they had been over paying me and I now owe £980 and they want it back now!!!
Where in their thick minds do they think I can pay this back, they sat on this letter for 2 bloody weeks and they know I'm bipolar,I'm now back to being ill and crying and wishing to self harm.
I know I have to pay it back but do you think they will accept a payment plan?

agrinnall

Make an appointment with CAB to get advice from them before agreeing to anything with your ex-employer. Make sure you take all your pay slips, your contract, and the letter explaining the overpayment.

The non-arrival of pay on Friday may be due to the problems at HSBC, in which case you should get it on Tuesday.

puxie123

I bank with Lloyds and from the letter I got from them they have taken some of what I owe them back from this months payment hence why I got nothing, just would of been nice to have been informed before I was getting paid that this was happening. I will contact CAB and thank you.

ohreally

puxie123 wrote: »

got a letter from them yesterday dated the 14th saying since April they had been over paying me and I now owe £980 and they want it back now!!!

I'm now back to being ill and crying and wishing to self harm

First issue is your health, speak with you CPN or make an apt with your GP asap.

Secondly, from your post there may be some questions to ask before agreeing to payback anything.

You have went from expecting 11 days pay to saying, "I know I have to pay it back". Do you actually owe them anything, simply because they have informed you of this doesn't mean its correct. Is this figure a gross or net amount and why has it not been raised before? Where have they got this figure from?

Don't do anything rash.

puxie123

They cut my hours from 36 to 24 in April but only told me verbally, I didn't sign a new contract, so they have been paying me 36 hrs a week instead of 24 even though I have been doing way over those hours.
I was meant to be paid on Friday but had nothing from them then the next day got a letter sent on Friday but dated the 14th saying they had noticed an admin error and had been overpaying me since April, it states that they have taken what they owe from this months pay but I still owe them an extra £980 and to send a cheque or do a bank transfer.

Derwent

Actually, if your contract says 36 hours then they should pay you for 36 hours regardless of anything else.

tomtontom

Why did they cut your hours, did you agree to the cut? How many hours have you been working?

puxie123

Because they were not making enough money even though they are a huge charity, I didn't sign anything to agree with the new hours and because the shop couldn't run properly with me on a 24hr a week I did 36.

MoneyMission2015

I'm no expert but I would say if you were still working 36 hours and didn't sign anything then you don't owe them anything.

dancingfairy

They sound like a right shower and a complete nightmare. Do you have a local law school or drop in centre for legal advice or anything like that near you? Sometimes CAB's have this sort of thing as well.
Personally I'd be tempted to write to them and dispute the overpayment (or get someone to write the letter for you and you just sign it).
IF you owe this money (and frankly I'm not sure you do) then of course you can pay it back in installments. How else are they going to get it? They can't take it from your wages and they probably won't want the hassle of going to court especially since they could well make themselves look very stupid in front of the judge. IF a judge decides you owe the money then they can ask you to pay it back in installments.
This sort of thing makes me angry, angry that their are people out there that try and take advantage of people's good nature and angry that they can cause so much harm to someone who is clearly already struggling.
Do you have a symapthetic doctor? Is there counselling readily available to you? If not then ring your crisis number if you have one, or the samaritans or someone similar if you need to.
Please remember it is only money at the end of the day and it will all get sorted out. It is honestly not worth upsetting your self over it.
df

sangie595

puxie123 wrote: »

Because they were not making enough money even though they are a huge charity, I didn't sign anything to agree with the new hours and because the shop couldn't run properly with me on a 24hr a week I did 36.

So, at the time of the cut in hours you knew that your working hours had been cut to 24 but you carried on working 36? Unless you are very good at lying (as in, if this went to a court could you convincingly tell a lie?) then you knew that your wages should have reflected the cut in hours, but failed to query why you were being paid too much money. That would not be an "understandable" mistake.

An employer does not have to put contractual changes in writing. It is foolhardy not to do so, for exactly the reason that has happened here - they may later have to prove it, and it may well be that they would struggle to prove it. I assume that they have no proof whatsoever - including timesheets, rotas or other documents? Because the fact is that they cut the hours and you knew they did - your choice to work unpaid overtime was entirely your own, so continuing to work 36 hours is a red herring. Unless, as I said, if push came to shove, you are willing and able to lie effectively in a court of law. Because otherwise it does look rather fishy that you knew that your hours had been cut, your wage wasn't, and you said nothing at all.

If you aren't able to carry the lie, then on the face of it, the evidence is that you were overpaid and that you must have known that. In which case you need to come to an amicable arrangement with your former employer to repay the money. As has been mentioned already, most employers will agree a reasonable offer of repayment, because if they take it to court, unless you are sitting on a pile of money somewhere (which I doubt) then that is what will happen anyway. However, by that time you would have costs to pay as well, and courts have stricter rules about necessary living expenses than most people do, so you may find yourself considerably worse off than with an early agreement with the employer. Presumably, if they have taken 11 days wages from you, that means that the amount owed has been significantly reduced anyway.

As an aside, I am not sure what your complaint is about not receiving your P45. Your last pay was sue last Friday, and it would be exceptionally unusual for an employer to provide a P45 until such time as they had recorded their final payroll. The P45 is not issued when you leave, or it would be incomplete - it is issued after your final pay has been processed, and that means that you may not get it until shortly before, or even shortly after, your normal / final pay day.